The Zero Waste Education Project, which started as a pilot project in 2018 in cooperation with the Ministry of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change, the Ministry of National Education and TEMA Foundation, and has been implemented with the support of Tetra Pak Turkey since 2019, aims to raise children's awareness on issues such as the protection of natural assets, nature-friendly consumption habits, waste management and to adopt a "zero waste" approach.
The project covers in-class training activities prepared for pre-school and primary school children and implemented in classrooms in cooperation with the Ministry of National Education, and the Zero Waste Education Portal designed for teachers at all levels of education in 81 provinces to access the content.
In order to raise awareness of preschool and primary school children about the zero waste approach, the 5D model consisting of the principles of “Think, Don't Consume If Not Necessary, Reject”, “Consume Less”, “Evaluate, Repair, Reuse”, “Change, Use for Different Purposes” and “Transform” was developed. Children are encouraged to adopt the zero waste principle in schools through short-term activities specially prepared for pre-school and primary school children, including educational materials such as box games, presentations, films, interactive books and family brochures.
The Zero Waste Education Portal (www.sifiratiktema.org), which was designed to disseminate the developed educational materials and activity applications and to enable teachers at all levels of education in 81 provinces to access the content, was opened to the use of all teachers in October 2019. The portal provides teachers in 81 provinces with rich educational content and materials for all levels of education, including presentations, posters, worksheets, project proposals, digital games and animated films. Anyone interested in zero waste can access all content and materials by becoming a member of the portal.
As part of the Zero Waste Education Project, a pilot program was conducted in Ankara in 2019, reaching 74,000 primary school children. Expansion efforts continued between 2019 and 2024 with the support of Tetra Pak Turkey, and by the end of June 2025, approximately 189,000 more children had been reached in 56 provinces at the preschool and primary school levels.
As of the end of June 2025, approximately 871,500 children and 122,250 teachers have been reached through the Zero Waste Education Portal.
The Zero Waste Education Project was deemed worthy of the Zero Waste Social Responsibility Award at the Zero Waste Summit held on November 1, 2018. It also received an award in the "Environmental Social Responsibility" category at the ÇEVKO Green Point Industry Awards in 2020.
You can click on the link below to apply.